dev/spidev is missing

Hello everyone

I recently took on a project to create a Linux image with basic hardware support for the NanoPi Neo SOM. This is my first experience working with embedded Linux, as my background has primarily been in developing hardware for microcontrollers.

For this task, I am utilizing Buildroot. While the output image works well, I have encountered an issue: I cannot find SPI support in the /dev/ directory, which I believe is crucial for my application. However, I do see some SPI-related files located in other parts of the system, such as /sys/bus/, /sys/class/, and /lib/modules/6.10.9/kernel/drivers/.

While calling make linux-menuconfig command and searching for SPI configuration it seems enabled:

Symbol: SPI_SPIDEV [=y]
Type : tristate
Defined at drivers/spi/Kconfig:1222
Prompt: User mode SPI device driver support
Depends on: SPI [=y] && SPI_MASTER [=y]
Location:
-> Device Drivers
-> SPI support (SPI [=y])
(1) -> User mode SPI device driver support (SPI_SPIDEV [=y])

This is what I found in ./buildroot/output/target/boot/sun8i-h3-nanopi-neo.dtb:

Quote:

pinctrl@1c20800 { spi0-pins { pins = "PC0\0PC1\0PC2\0PC3"; function = "spi0"; phandle = <0x14>; }; spi1-pins { pins = "PA15\0PA16\0PA14\0PA13"; function = "spi1"; phandle = <0x15>; }; }; soc { spi0-pins { pins = "PC0\0PC1\0PC2\0PC3"; function = "spi0"; phandle = <0x14>; }; spi1-pins { pins = "PA15\0PA16\0PA14\0PA13"; function = "spi1"; phandle = <0x15>; }; }; __symbols__ { spi0_pins = "/soc/pinctrl@1c20800/spi0-pins"; spi1_pins = "/soc/pinctrl@1c20800/spi1-pins"; spi0 = "/soc/spi@1c68000"; spi1 = "/soc/spi@1c69000"; };

Does anyone have insights into why this might be happening or suggestions for resolving this issue?

Thank you!